Colorado Supreme Court sustains assault weapons ban in Denver

[JURIST] A ban on assault weapons [ordinance text] in the city of Denver was affirmed by operation of law [per curiam opinion] on Monday when the Colorado Supreme Court [official website] deadlocked in a 3-3 vote with one judge abstaining on whether to overturn the decisions in two lower court cases that had upheld the ban. The state enacted two laws [LCAV backgrounder] in 2003 that imposed regulations that superseded local ordinances governing firearms.

The city of Denver and some citizens sued the state in 2004, and a Denver judge ruled [PDF] that the city could ban the sale of assault weapons and Saturday night specials as it had in 1989 [AP report] and 1975 respectively, but had to comply with the other state regulations. AP has more. The Denver Post has local coverage.

About Paper Chase

Paper Chase is JURIST's real-time legal news service, powered by a team of 30 law student reporters and editors led by law professor Bernard Hibbitts at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. As an educational service, Paper Chase is dedicated to presenting important legal news and materials rapidly, objectively and intelligibly in an accessible format.